Seriously, Science?http://discovermagazine.com/rss/blog-feeds/seriously-scienceSerious(ly silly) science.http://backend.userland.com/rssFri, 31 Aug 2018 11:00:23 GMTGoing bald? According to these scientists, you can blame your beard.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7037
[Note from the authors of “Seriously, Science?”: After nine years with Discover, we’ve been informed that this will be our last month blogging on this platform. Despite being (usually) objective scientists, we have a sentimental streak, and we have spent the last few days reminiscing about the crazy, and often funny, science we have highlighted. Therefore, we have assembled a month-long feast of our favorite science papers. Enjoy!]
Let's face it, the vast majority of people who both go baFri, 31 Aug 2018 11:00:23 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7037http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2014/11/1358179930_6c7be2046b_z.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2014/11/1358179930_6c7be2046b_z.jpgGay men's preferences for "top" vs. "bottom" can be judged by their face.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7035
[Note from the authors of “Seriously, Science?”: After nine years with Discover, we’ve been informed that this will be our last month blogging on this platform. Despite being (usually) objective scientists, we have a sentimental streak, and we have spent the last few days reminiscing about the crazy, and often funny, science we have highlighted. Therefore, we have assembled a month-long feast of our favorite science papers. Enjoy!]
It's been known for a while that it takes less than a secWed, 29 Aug 2018 11:00:06 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7035http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2013/11/faces-300x198.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2013/11/faces-300x198.jpgDo farts carry germs? Well, it depends on whether you are wearing pants.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7033[Note from the authors of “Seriously, Science?”: After nine years with Discover, we’ve been informed that this will be our last month blogging on this platform. Despite being (usually) objective scientists, we have a sentimental streak, and we have spent the last few days reminiscing about the crazy, and often funny, science we have highlighted. Therefore, we have assembled a month-long feast of our favorite science papers. Enjoy!]
Here is yet another jewel from one of the holiday issues of tMon, 27 Aug 2018 11:00:46 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7033Nipple, penis, or nostril — what’s the most painful place to be stung by a bee? (The answer might surprise you.)http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7030
[Note from the authors of “Seriously, Science?”: After nine years with Discover, we’ve been informed that this will be our last month blogging on this platform. Despite being (usually) objective scientists, we have a sentimental streak, and we have spent the last few days reminiscing about the crazy, and often funny, science we have highlighted. Therefore, we have assembled a month-long feast of our favorite science papers. Enjoy!]
In the 1980s, a man named Justin Schmidt invented the SchFri, 24 Aug 2018 11:00:50 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7030http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2014/04/7836156158_0fca8fb6ff_z-300x201.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2014/04/7836156158_0fca8fb6ff_z-300x201.jpgFarts: an underappreciated threat to astronauts.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7028
[Note from the authors of “Seriously, Science?”: After nine years with Discover, we’ve been informed that this will be our last month blogging on this platform. Despite being (usually) objective scientists, we have a sentimental streak, and we have spent the last few days reminiscing about the crazy, and often funny, science we have highlighted. Therefore, we have assembled a month-long feast of our favorite science papers. Enjoy!]
On Earth, farts are typically no big deal — smelly, harmlThu, 23 Aug 2018 11:00:54 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7028http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2014/03/astronaut-199x300.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2014/03/astronaut-199x300.jpgProof that female ejaculation is just pee.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7025
[Note from the authors of “Seriously, Science?”: After nine years with Discover, we’ve been informed that this will be our last month blogging on this platform. Despite being (usually) objective scientists, we have a sentimental streak, and we have spent the last few days reminiscing about the crazy, and often funny, science we have highlighted. Therefore, we have assembled a month-long feast of our favorite science papers. Enjoy!]
Up until now, the scientific literature was pretty much aThu, 23 Aug 2018 01:49:28 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7025http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2015/01/873062958_cf8138b22b_z-300x200.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2015/01/873062958_cf8138b22b_z-300x200.jpgSexually aroused by farts? You're not alone.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7022
[Note from the authors of “Seriously, Science?”: After nine years with Discover, we’ve been informed that this will be our last month blogging on this platform. Despite being (usually) objective scientists, we have a sentimental streak, and we have spent the last few days reminiscing about the crazy, and often funny, science we have highlighted. Therefore, we have assembled a month-long feast of our favorite science papers. Enjoy!]
The saying goes "to each his own," and that definitely hoThu, 16 Aug 2018 11:00:01 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7022http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2013/08/cat-farts-300x225.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2013/08/cat-farts-300x225.jpgPhysicists finally explain why your earphones are always tangled.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7019
[Note from the authors of “Seriously, Science?”: After nine years with Discover, we’ve been informed that this will be our last month blogging on this platform. Despite being (usually) objective scientists, we have a sentimental streak, and we have spent the last few days reminiscing about the crazy, and often funny, science we have highlighted. Therefore, we have assembled a month-long feast of our favorite science papers. Enjoy!]
There are few day-to-day events that send me into a rage Tue, 14 Aug 2018 11:00:42 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7019http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2014/06/7909055966_06bd8d76b4-300x199.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2014/06/7909055966_06bd8d76b4-300x199.jpgStudy proves “old person smell” is real.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7014
[Note from the authors of “Seriously, Science?”: After nine years with Discover, we’ve been informed that this will be our last month blogging on this platform. Despite being (usually) objective scientists, we have a sentimental streak, and we have spent the last few days reminiscing about the crazy, and often funny, science we have highlighted. Therefore, we have assembled a month-long feast of our favorite science papers. Enjoy!]
It’s a common stereotype that old people have a … unique Fri, 10 Aug 2018 00:24:37 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7014http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2013/10/old-man-300x199.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2013/10/old-man-300x199.jpgThe end is nigh! Let's relive our most viral moments: That's one miraculous conception.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7006[Note from the authors of "Seriously, Science?": After nine years with Discover, we've been informed that this will be our last month blogging on this platform. Despite being (usually) objective scientists, we have a sentimental streak, and we have spent the last few days reminiscing about the crazy, and often funny, science we have highlighted. Therefore, we hereby begin a month-long feast of our favorite science papers, starting with the first paper we ever blogged about here at Discover (withMon, 06 Aug 2018 11:00:05 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=7006Flashback Friday: Scientists finally optimize "brain freeze".http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6993
As we've discussed before, ice-cream headache (a.k.a. "brain freeze") is a real phenomenon, and scientists are actively studying it. But before they can understand in detail the physiological events surrounding brain freeze, they must first have a robust way of inducing it. Here, scientists compared two different methods of inducing ice-cream headaches: pressing an ice cube to the roof of one's mouth vs. chugging ice water. It turns out that the ice water gave volunteers more, and worse, heaFri, 27 Jul 2018 11:00:19 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6993http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2016/07/8656967862_514b81f6f8_z-300x199.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2016/07/8656967862_514b81f6f8_z-300x199.jpgStronger men have weaker sperm.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6995
If you're a fan of muscley men, listen up: those guns might come at the cost of a man's fertility. In this study (published in the journal Animal Behavior, because we ain't nothin' but mammals), the researchers report that physical strength in men, while seen as attractive by women, is also associated with "lower ejaculate quality." Boxer shorts, anyone?
Perceived physical strength in men is attractive to women but may come at a cost to ejaculate quality
"Studies of sexual selection acWed, 25 Jul 2018 11:57:03 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6995http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2018/07/Male_body_builder_Maurice_Deriaz_c._1906_Wellcome_L0039137-205x300.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2018/07/Male_body_builder_Maurice_Deriaz_c._1906_Wellcome_L0039137-205x300.jpgFlashback Friday: Woman gives herself a C-section and saves her baby.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6991
If you had to give yourself a C-section to save your unborn baby, could you do it? Having given birth to my own child, I'm not sure I could. But this woman did it. She had no other choice: she lost a previous baby during protracted labor, and she lived in a small village eight hours drive from the nearest hospital. In the abstract and detailed case report below, doctors tell her (harrowing) story. And they tell it for a good reason: "This case, which would not have occurred if prenatal and dFri, 20 Jul 2018 11:00:44 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6991http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2016/07/patient-300x200.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2016/07/patient-300x200.jpgFlashback Friday: The funniest stand-up comedians are more likely to die young.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6984
From Lenny Bruce to Robin Williams, many great comedians have suffered untimely deaths. But is this actually a hazard of the job? In this study, the authors investigated whether stand-up comedians were more likely to die young compared to comedic or dramatic actors, as well as whether funnier stand-up comedians were more prone to death than less funny comics. The answer to both questions was, unfortunately, yes. Talk about killing it onstage! (Clearly I'll be living for a long time.)
Is tFri, 13 Jul 2018 11:00:39 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6984http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2018/07/Williams_Robin_USGov_crop-225x300.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2018/07/Williams_Robin_USGov_crop-225x300.jpgFlashback Friday: Scientists analyzed orgasms in the 50 most-viewed videos on PornHub. Here’s what they found.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6979
It’s probably no surprise to anyone that watching pornography can give unrealistic expectations of what sex is really like. But how skewed is this representation? These heroic scientists took it upon themselves to find out. To do so, they watched the top 50 most-viewed videos on PornHub, and recorded “the frequency of male and female orgasm, orgasm-inducing sex acts (and whether activity inducing female orgasms included some form of clitoral stimulation), and auditory (verbal, vocal) and visFri, 06 Jul 2018 11:00:36 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6979http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2017/06/11927931295_5e9d836267_z.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2017/06/11927931295_5e9d836267_z.jpgStudy finds that "Thank you" might be more meaningful than you think.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6976
Telling people how we really feel can be... well, tricky. Even when it comes to writing a simple thank you note: "What if it's too much? Will they think I'm weird? Is it going to be awkward?" If only there were a surefire way to know how it was going to turn out! Well, this study is getting as close as we are likely to get. Here, scientists tracked how senders and receivers felt about thank you letters, and the results suggest that you should get your pen out: "Expressers significantly underTue, 03 Jul 2018 11:00:25 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6976http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2018/07/thankyoucloud.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2018/07/thankyoucloud.jpgFlashback Friday: Did Mozart have Tourette syndrome?http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6968When you think of Mozart, you probably imagine an 18th century gentleman who was always thinking about music. Well, it turns out that when not composing musical masterpieces, Mozart liked to talk about "shooting off his rear-end gun". He was such a huge fan of potty humor that some historians, after reading a series of letters that Mozart wrote to his female cousin (the Bäsle letters), have proposed that he suffered from Tourette syndrome. Here, the author refutes that interpretation, instead aFri, 29 Jun 2018 11:00:05 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6968http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2016/07/Wolfgang-amadeus-mozart_1-204x300.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2016/07/Wolfgang-amadeus-mozart_1-204x300.jpgCan smelling your poop diagnose colon cancer?http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6966
Scientists are looking everywhere for less invasive cancer diagnostics...including, apparently, in the toilet. Here, researchers tested whether patients with and without colon cancer could be classified based on the "volatile organic compounds" (i.e., smelly molecules) in their poop. The scientists were able to correctly ID the cancer patients 75% of the time with this method, which is not bad for such a non-invasive test. Smart cancer-screening toilet, here we come!
Use of the Analysis oWed, 27 Jun 2018 13:01:08 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6966http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2018/06/640px-Smelling_in_wine_tasting-300x199.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2018/06/640px-Smelling_in_wine_tasting-300x199.jpgFlashback Friday: Parrot 'Laughter' is Contagioushttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6957
Instead of parroting the author’s own words (below), we will leave you with a video showing the contagious laughter-like vocalization of Kea parrots. We hope it doesn’t ruffle any feathers.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/embed/N37rN29nUIc[/embed]
Positive emotional contagion in a New Zealand parrot.
“Positive emotional contagions are outwardly emotive actions that spread from one individual to another, such as glee in preschool children or laughter in humans of all ages. The plFri, 22 Jun 2018 11:00:45 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6957http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2018/06/shutterstock_394290829.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2018/06/shutterstock_394290829.jpgStudy shows that wearing a "fatsuit" makes women snack harder.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6953
Overeating is a growing problem. But what makes us overeat? Obviously, delicious food can be hard to resist, but that's clearly not the only factor. Here, scientists explored whether feeling overweight changes how we eat. It turns out that wearing a suit designed to make one feel obese did change participants' eating habits -- but only for women. Women, but not men, ate more snack food when wearing the fatsuits, even in private. The scientists were not able to determine why this was true, buThu, 21 Jun 2018 16:36:12 GMThttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=6953http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2018/06/Spanish_Town_Mardi_Gras_-_Fat_suit_fools-300x199.jpghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/files/2018/06/Spanish_Town_Mardi_Gras_-_Fat_suit_fools-300x199.jpg